East Rutherford, NJ – With two GSY events carded for Friday (Jan. 27) night, it was a second straight week of double-digit winners, bucking the early trend from the beginning of this year. Are winning favorites again a thing of the past in the GSY?

In the first race on the card, 10 pacers went to post and with only one horse that really left hard from the gate. Well, at least that is what it seemed but after Scott Keppler put Lou Ed Zeppelin on the lead in :29 seconds, he looked to “rock” this group to sleep. It seemed that way as he went through a pedestrian :59 second half and was trying to keep the field “Dazed and Confused.” For any Zeppelin fans, you know the reference.

That half forced an early move by Master Conrad (Bruno Chiodo) and actually kept the rest of the field engaged as both those dueling leaders at the three-quarter pole would be nowhere near the top as the field hit the wire. That meant for the mid and deep closers to have a shot at the finish which ended up being a sibling rivalry. In the end, it was Bilbo Hanover (Neil Glasser) besting the favorite and his brother, Mv Ok Palacio Br (David Glasser) by a head at the finish. The mile went in 1:55.4. Johnny Q(Anthony Verruso) rounded out the trifecta. The 13-year-old gelding is owned by Clifford Grundy out of MI and is trained by Mike Watson.

In the fifth race on the card, the field was scratched down to  eight competitors and there was an early tussle for the lead to the quarter pole, which was finally gotten by Claytons Bettor N (James Slendorn) but he paid the price to get there and went a fast :26.4 opening quarter. This took its toll on him and the pocket sitter and co-favorite as well, Meet The Creeper (Bruno Chiodo).

Both were not near the top finishers in the end. That’s because an early move by Sunshine’s Finest (William Clark Jr.), who was out for three quarters of a mile but seemed to get stronger as the mile went on and was able to hold off all the closers to win by two lengths in a mile timed in 1:53.4. He was also sent off at 10-1 odds. Texas Terror N (John Calabrese) ended up second and Howtotrainurdragon (Newton “Yogi” Sheridan) rounded out the trifecta. The 7-year-old gelding is co-owned by Clark Jr. and Mary Cuerbo, both out of New York and is trained by Tom Shay.

The GSY is scheduled to be back in action next Friday (Feb. 3) at the Meadowlands. Post time is scheduled for 6:20 p.m.